Factory Girl to Represent Egypt as the Best Foreign Language Film in the Academy Awards

Concurrently with Receiving Two Awards for Yasmin Raeis and Scriptwriter Wessam Soliman in Sweden and Morocco

Factory Girl to Represent Egypt as the Best Foreign Language Film in the Academy Awards

Mohamed Khan's Factory Girl continues its lucrative triumphs on various levels; as it has been selected by the Egyptian Film Syndicate to represent Egypt as the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards ceremony (Oscars). In addition, actress Yasmin Raeis has recently reaped the Best Actress Award at Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden, whereas its Screenwriter Wessam Soliman received the Best Writing Award at the Sala Women Film Festival in Morocco.

The syndicate formed a committee to select the film to represent Egypt at the Academy Awards including renowned directors Ali Badrakhan, Ali Abdel Khalek and Mohamed El Naggar; film critics Tarek El Shenawy, Rami Abdel Razak and Ahmed Shawky; along with Music Composer
Rageh Daoud, Director of Photography Kamal Abdel Aziz and Production Designers Fawzy Al Awamry
and Onsy Abu Youssef.

This came concurrently with actress Yasmin Raeis receiving the Best Actress Award at Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden, which represents one of the preeminent cultural platforms for Arabs in Scandinavian countries and promotes understanding and cultural exchange between the Arabic-speaking expats and other ethnic groups in Sweden through the screening of films from across the Arab world. Offering sumptuous opportunity for hundreds of up-and-coming Arab filmmakers by introducing their work to the international audience, the festival showcases nearly 100 Arabic films from 30 foreign and Arab countries.

Last Friday, Factory Girl received the Best Writing Award for Wessam Soliman at Sala Women Film Festival. Taking place in Morocco, the festival focuses on films that depict women's social status as its main theme. The festival's official statement on the prizecame as follows, "The originality of the film lies not only in its subject matter, but also within an outstanding scenario that carries a feminist sensibility that opens new horizons for women, showing their strength to overcome the social constraints and challenge a still dominant and oppressing community. Factory Girl is not just a film but a call to empower women."

Concurrently, Factory Girl participates at the Feature Film Competition within the 4 th Malmo Arab Film Festival in Sweden with the attendance of its star Yasmin. Coming to an end next Tuesday, September 30th, the festival's main objective is to promote understanding and cultural exchange between the Arabic-speaking and other ethnic groups through the screening of films from across the Arab world, addressing the more than 175 nationalities living in Sweden.

Starring Yasmin Raeis, Hany Adel, Salwa Khatab, Salwa Mohamed Ali, Ibtihal El Sereti and a diverse array of new promising stars, the film is written by Wessam Soliman and produced by Mohamed Samir's DayDream Art Production.The film tells the story of Hiyam, a young factory worker, lives in a lower-middle-class neighborhood, along with her co-workers. She is clearly under the spell of
Salah, the factory's new supervisor, who has expressed his admiration for her. She believes love can transcend the class differences between them. However, when a pregnancy test is discovered in the factory premises, her immediate family and close friends accuse her of sinning. Hiyam decides not to defend herself and pays an enormous price in a society that fails to accept independent women.

Factory Girl examines the changes that take place in her life over the four seasons of the year. From falling in love to facing heartbreak, her life comes around full circle by the end of the year.

Under the auspices of Mizna, Factory Girl takes part at Twin Cities Arab Film Festival, which will run from October 16- 25, 2014, in Minnesota, USA. The film will be also screened at the African Film Festival of Verona, which takes place in Italy, November 7-16, 2014.

Factory Girl has previously participated in a string of highly prestigious international film festivals including Safar: A Journey Through Popular Arab Cinema in London,which took place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) from September 19-25, 2014 under the patronage of the Arab British Centre, ANA Contemporary Arab Cinema Festival, which ran from September 17-24, 2014, in New York, Montreal World Film Festival, which ran from August 21st until September 1st, 2014, competing against 350 films from across 74 countries.

An aesthetically auspicious slice of life, Factory Girl earned a Special Jury Prize at MEDFilm Festival
in Italy, where it was screened at the opening gala of the festival last July. Concurrently, the film was a great success in Egyptian theaters, carrying on its flourishing commercial tour across 6 Arab countries, as well as Ramallah, Palestinian territories.

Factory Girl had its world premiere at the 10th Dubai International Film Festival, 2013, where it garnered the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award for Arab Feature Competition, and the film's star Yasmin Raeis walked away with the Best Actress award, in the Muhr Arab Feature Competition.

One of the few independent films which achieved box-office success; Factory Girl participated in reputable Shanghai International Film Festival, Franco Arab Film Festival in Jordan, in addition to its screening in the opening gala at the Arab Film Festival in Seoul, Korea.